The 35-year-old pundit played alongside both players for the England national team, but feels the Chelsea playmaker influenced more games than the Manchester United man

Jamie Carragher believes Frank Lampard is second only to Steven Gerrard in the list of best English midfielders of the Premier League era, ranking him above Paul Scholes.

The retired defender is adamant the 35-year-old Chelsea midfielder, who has notched 166 goals in the top flight of English football, has been the more influential than Scholes and says he has not received the plaudits he deserves.

“Frank has a catalogue of golden moments and, for that reason, I have him behind Steven but ahead of Paul Scholes in my list of the Premier League’s top three English midfielders,” Carragher wrote in his column in the Daily Mail.

“I know Barcelona’s Xavi described Scholes as the best midfielder of the last 20 years but Frank has influenced more big games — his goals clinched Chelsea’s first title in 2005, he has won them an FA Cup final and scored in a Champions League final.

“He has also played more and scored more for England, and his tally of 166 Premier League goals — the highest by a midfielder — outstrips the 107 Scholes scored.”

Lampard and Gerrard were often criticised for failing to work well as a partnership for England, but Carragher believes the lack of success the pair enjoyed should be blamed on former Three Lions boss Sven-Goran Eriksson.

“I was adamant [Lampard] merited playing alongside Gerrard. If anything, Eriksson made a mess of whether Gerrard and Lampard could be a partnership. Of course they could have,” Carragher continued.

“A strong manager would have told Steven to play the holding role — that is more in his make-up — and to let Frank go forward.

“But he didn’t. He fudged it. That’s why Scholes ended up out on the left and eventually in international retirement.

“This is not an attack on Scholes — it is anything but. It is just important to illustrate what Lampard has achieved as I don’t believe he has had the credit he deserves.”

The right-back had to be withdrawn during the recent 1-0 win over Manchester United, but an initial prognosis of a 10-week absence has been reduced following scans

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has confirmed full-back Glen Johnson is likely to miss a month of action with an ankle sprain.

The England international sustained the injury during the club’s 1-0 victory over Manchester United at Anfield, during a challenge with Patrice Evra.

Johnson missed his country’s World Cup qualifiers against Moldova and Ukraine as a result, but Rodgers is hopeful the 29-year-old will return to the first-team fold in October.

“It’s a disappointment because I think he’s made a good start and he was excellent against Manchester United,” Rodgers told reporters ahead of Liverpool’s trip to Swansea City on Monday.

“Fortunately for us, with the way it works out and the international breaks, he’ll probably only miss about four Premier League games.

“Glen is the type of player that you never realise how much you miss him until he’s not there. He’ll go away, work hard and keep himself in the best shape he can.”

Despite the setback to Johnson, Rodgers is confident of having key trio Daniel Sturridge, Joe Allen and Kolo Toure available for selection against his former club.

Sturridge was unavailable for England duty due to a thigh injury picked up before the United game, while Toure and Allen were both injured during the Capital One Cup victory over Notts County in August.

“[Sturridge] was obviously disappointed to miss out on England games,” Rodgers continued. “I felt for him because he came here, first and foremost, to do as well as he possibly can  for Liverpool – knowing if he could do well, his aim was obviously to be the England striker.

“He returned back and there was a slight improvement, but obviously Roy [Hodgson] and his staff have to make the decision on whether he’s going to be right or available. Obviously at that stage, he wasn’t.

On Allen and Toure, the Ulsterman added: “Joe has trained with the team. He looked good [on Friday] morning and is certainly fighting for a place on Monday.

“Kolo is with our physiologists and is working well. He should be available for Monday.”

The summer signing believes saving a last-minute penalty against Stoke City on the opening day put him in good stead at Anfield

Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet believes his debut heroics boosted his confidence and is now looking to maintain the club’s 100 per cent start of the season.

The 25-year-old saved a last-minute penalty in the opening day against Stoke City to secure of the first of three 1-0 wins.

Mignolet believes his debut display has been the catalyst for his early fine form at the club and also feels it has helped him settle into his new surroundings.

“It was a nice experience to see it again,” he told the club’s website when asked about the save. “Obviously if you do that in your first game as a Liverpool player in the Premier League, you’re very happy.

“It boosted my confidence and it was a very special moment. Because of the save we won the game and it doesn’t really happen often that as a goalkeeper you can be so decisive – especially in your first game.

“When you join the club as a new goalkeeper you want to do well in the first few games you play; keeping three clean sheets helped me to settle and also my confidence. It’s a good way to start.”

Mignolet has also hailed the club’s other summer recruits, with the likes of Mamadou Sakho, Tiago Ilori and Victor Moses all joining near the end of the transfer window.

He continued: “I saw back in Belgium when I was on international duty that the club also signed three more players at the end of the transfer window, which is always good to get competition inside the dressing room.

“We have a very good squad at the moment to go ahead and play the remainder of the season. It’s a confident feeling looking at the table. I saw it on the television when I came back from Belgium.”

“We’ve got three wins from the first three games played, so hopefully we can continue on that, progress and manage to play the coming games at the same level as we did the first couple of games.”